University offers for 2018? (Part 1)

[OnlyTeaForMe]

OK, I know I'm a bit early, but let the hand-holding begin...

Come and join us if you (and your DC) are about to start the UCAS process in September - applying for a place in 2018.

I've got DS1, who wants to do Computer Science in 2018. Looking at various Russell Group unis and maybe Oxbridge.

Lobster: no, this daughter hasn’t applied to Durham. She applied to Birmingham, Exeter, Leeds, Nottingham and Southampton to do psychology. She will choose between Birmingham and Exeter as her firm offer (both AAA) and have Nottingham as her reserve (AAB).

My older daughter did apply to Durham, to do music, and they made a fairly early offer, if I remember rightly. She liked the place but was more impressed with the course and facilities at Birmingham and that became her reserve option.

Marmitelover: thanks for the offer. I don’t really know Exeter but know other parts of Devon very well and I think it would suit her (and me)! very well. Everyone I know whose children have been to Exeter really enjoyed it. We had a good visit at the open day in June though didn’t have much time to see the city. I imagine she will want to go again before she decides. Personally I think Exeter would suit her better as a city (we live in a small town so it would be less of a culture shock) but we did rather fall in love with the Birmingham campus!

Thanks to others too.

Lady magnet, thanks. She is so pleased and will really enjoy her half term now.

Marmite: well done to your daughter for getting her essays etc off. Exciting times! Which college has your daughter applied to?

Congrats to Yippee and others on their new offers.

Ah Fifth I must have mixed up your DDs!
We’re not far from Birmingham - I absolutely love the university and if I were choosing I think it would be my first choice.
DD vetoed it early on though for being too close (along with Nottingham and Leicester, both of which I also really like)
She is desperate to go somewhere new and exciting, which I do sort of understand. But her current second choice (after Oxford - long shot) is St Andrews which is just sooo far away!

That’s why I’m clinging onto the hope of a Durham offer - at least its in the same country!

Fifth she has applied to Oriel as she has a chance of a choral scholarship with them but they only take 2 music students so I am not that hopeful tbh!

She is really happy with her offer from Bristol though and that isn't too far from us. Also not a huge city. We looked at Manchester and she was like a rabbit in the headlights.

Hope you don't mind me joining the thread but it may be the most knowledgeable one on this subject! I keep reading about some universities being more 'clubbing' and partying than others - have any of you formed an impression of where are the universities to go if you're not into that so much? Obviously if you're into sport or music or drama you can head for those anywhere, but I'm thinking more of the people with no particularly strongly sociable outside pursuits.

Or is the truth that even the 'partying' universities have loads of students who are into the quieter pursuits (watching youtube clips, drinking coffee into the night, going to a Marvel film...). (Can you tell I have dc who may not be into nightclubs?)

Around us, Leeds and Newcastle are pretty partyish- Durham less so, those that are keen get the train into Newcastle, York has a bit of both. A friend has a DD at Lancaster and that was quieter.

Thanks Cathy yes I'd heard the same about Durham - makes sense, as not many nightclubs there I suppose! Very difficult to get in to Durham of course (in terms of grades I mean, not transport!).

I suppose a linked question is whether lots of students go home at weekends. You don't want a quieter university if the reason it's quiet is that you're the only one left there at weekends!

It's interesting that these 'soft' questions may make all the difference between enjoying university and not, but you have to make those judgements on the basis of impressions rather than facts!

I think somebody told me on here that Bristol ask for information from the students on what they like doing so that they can put like minded people together in accommodation.
Is it Lancaster that has "quiet" halls of residence?

That makes sense for Bristol and Lancaster. Dd1 had detailed questionnaire about her interests for her accommodation and I rather imagined her being on a stairway full of dramatic types, like the kids from Fame, but It seemed to be totally random in the end.

I’d heard that Royal Holloway empties at the weekend but they could be Chinese whispers.

Yes that's the difficulty isn't it about knowing how many go home for the weekend - not the sort of thing you can compile statistics on very easily!

My impression is that it's not the case at Durham and York though - so that may be two universities catering for the 'quieter' student while not being silent at weekends!

It is a good idea to try to match people in halls, though it could go too far I suppose - I wonder if you got a flat full of 8 'very quiet' people whether they would all just stay quiet and never speak to each other without a slightly noisier 'energiser'. It all depends what you mean by quiet - I am really talking about 'non-partyers' rather than silent types I suppose.

I think the London universities in general sometimes are a bit more tricky with regard to the weekend social life. It depends on your accommodation of course, but my goddaughter who was at Kings College really struggled to find a group of friends in first year.
She said it was a bit of a vicious circle because there were a lot of foreign students on her course who tended to group together (and often speak their own language) at weekends, together with a lot of people who either went home at weekends, or had people visiting (as it was London). As a result she often went home too (less than an hour away) rather than spending a weekend in halls on her own.

It's this, along with the cost, that put us/Ds off applying to London unis really.

yes I have read (on student room!) that because going out is relatively expensive in London some students work all week, then go home at the weekend to socialise. Obviously that's by no means everyone - many students would not be able to afford to go home because of travel costs!

I assume Newcastle and Leeds and the other universities well known for night life have clubs/societies for non partying students as well, but I suppose if there's a very visible party crowd it can make you feel a bit isolated. Eek. University choices are by no means just about the course!

Warwick gave DS a maths offer within a week last year, in early October. He did have extremely strong grades though, and it was their standard offer including STEP.

did he not get offered a reduction for MAT George?

Marmite, the choral award and the offer of the academic place don’t need to go together. My daughter has a choral award at the college she applied to, but is actually at a different college. She obviously wasn’t one of their best or 3 applicants but they must have thought she was worth a place. All applicants have interviews at at least 2 colleges so others have the opportunity to see them. Some colleges don’t take anyone who applied to them. The admissions statistics are Interesting reading, if you haven’t already seen them. You can see how many people applied to each college to do music, how many were offered places at that college and how many were offered places at the university overall .

There are lots of others in her choir that are the same position as her so she doesn’t like the odd one out, and loves having two colleges at which she feels at home.

So absolutely no need to despair if she doesn’t get one of Oriel’s two places!

Thank you. Yes we realise that the choral scholarship doesn't have much to do with it but she liked Oriel and the music professor there is a composer. My daughter loves composing so that was another plus point for Oriel. We can only wait and see what happens. Worth a try but not the end of the world if it doesn't happen. Didn't want her to regret not trying and saying that we didn't support her. (Is that too many negatives?!)

DS has received his first offer...from his first choice So relieved!

Oh that is good news doistay

Brilliant stuff Doi, congratulations to your ds :)

Thanks

Great news doi!

Great news doi! It's such a relief isn't it?!

dd had an offer for one of her top favourites - Warwick. Which is great.

We are a bit puzzled as to why the website makes a mention of reduced offers of a good score in MAT or TMUA and yet her offer doesn’t include those. Not sure why she’s taking them now, the reason she’s taking them was to try and get a lower offer from Warwick to get a bit of differentiation in her offers.

He did the MAT and TMUA but I don't think the Warwick offer mentioned either. It did mention STEP, which he didn't do (he's now at Oxford).